PROF DAKAS AND TEAM PAY CONGRATULATORY VISIT ON STATE APC CHAIRMAN,RUFUS BATURE.

Front line Governorship Aspirant and Lawyer,Prof Dakas CJ Dakas, SAN has described the State

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress,APC,Hon Rufus Bature as a bridge-builder who has reached to people across religious, ethical and other divides throughout his political journey.

He said Rufus Bature has made a tremendous mark positively in the hearts of many because he believes in standing by the unity of Plateau across fault lines that some people have or may want to use to divide us.

Professor Dakas CJ Dakas stated this while paying a congratulatory visit to the New APC State Chairman since his election recently.

Congratulating him on his emergence as State Chairman,Dakas eulogized him saying he had always remained resolute and determined in his activities since his being a member of the State Assembly and as leader of the Minority in the Assembly and did exceedingly well.

Prof Dakas then assured him of his support so as to succeed in the onerous task ahead of him adding that he has a great team to work with for the success of the APC in the state.

"I and my team are paying you this visit to show solidarity with you and your wonderful team on your emergence as Chairman of our great Party. We have a strong belief you will use your wealth of experience and further build the party preparatory to another success come 2023. We pray God gives you the wisdom to carry on and emerge victorious at the end sir"

Responding, Plateau State APC Chairman, Hon Rufus Bature thanked Professor Dakas and his team for the visit saying the movement is for all and the good of the people.

He said Prof Dakas has also payed his dues to the state as such eminently qualified to aspire for the top seat but noted that the people would form the nucleus of that reality as such he should sustain his engagements with them.

Describing the visit as the first since he came into office, Bature expressed joy over such and said his doors remain open to all party faithful as the consultations continue across the state.

He said from the last count he had, there were about thirty-two (32) persons and still counting gunning for the number one seat across various political parties in the state and urged them to go round and market themselves to the people they intend to serve.

Rufus Bature assured that the party will create a level platform for its members to compete across board as it will be a family affair.

Hajiya Salamatu Uba Ahmed a top woman leader who was also on the team thanked the State APC Chairman for accepting to see them within short notice saying he is a man with a very simple heart and should keep it up.

She said Professor Dakas has the pedigree and means well for the state hence their decision to pitch tent with the movement which will be for the people of plateau state.

Professor Dakas was accompanied by his wife, Beatrice as well as other supporters on the visit.

PROF DAKAS COMMISERATES WITH THE IRIGWE DESCRIBES PERPETRATORS OF THE ACT AS DEVILS.

 Professor Dakas CJ Dakas has in strong terms expressed sadness over the deliberate act aimed and
frightening the Irigwe nation into giving up what rightly was given to them by God.

He said this act of wickedness and senselessness in killing people must not discourage the Irigwe and other affected communities but should build their spirits of collective resistance and stand firm as a people created and made to exist by God.

Professor Dakas who described the yet another killing of persons and destruction of property in Ta'agbe Community as sad challenged security agencies to restore some form of confidence in the people by arresting perpetrators of these repeated heinous crimes and bring them to book.

He commiserates with the Irigwe nation and also called for the activation of more synergized and proactive community intelligence gathering and activation of signals as well as a prompt response by security agencies to nip such in the bud.

He prayed God to comfort families and grant rest to the departed souls.

CONSTITUTIONALISM, PATRIOTISM AND HOPE IN NIGERIA: LESSON FROM USA

By Ayuba Yilgak'ha

No nation could attain meaningful and sustained development in the atmosphere of turbulence and

chaos. For a nation to achieve progress, there has to be a functional set of rules and regulations that moderate and guide the conduct of the citizenry to mitigate the natural tendencies of humans to misbehave in a manner that could cause injury to others or distress to the polity as a whole.

constitutionalism is a political ideology that gives credence to be lawful. It is the process of living according to the dictates of laws or constitution which is always goal specific.

The development of the culture and practice of constitutionalism in the United States of America (USA) is a classic beauty to behold. While most nations, especially developing countries like Nigeria often fail in harkening to basic dictates of constitutional provisions, America has proven itself relatively faithful in doing so. Just recently when the country's President, Joseph Biden Jr was scheduled for what was referred to as "routine medical procedure", the president demonstrated with great patriotism the power of constitution and constitutionalism by way of seamless transmission of power to the Vice President, Kamala Haris through a letter transmitted to the Senate and addressed to the Senate President Pro Tempore, Honourable Patrick Leahy, on November 19, 2023.

Because of the importance of the letter to this discourse, the main body of it is reproduced here and it reads: 

"Dear Senator Leahy,

Today I will be under a routine medical procedure requiring sedation. In view of present circumstances, I have determined to transfer temporarily the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States to the Vice President during the brief period of the procedure and recovery.

In accordance with the provision of the section of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States constitution, the letter shall constitute my written declaration that I am presently unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office of the President of the United States. Pursuant to section 3, the Vice President shall discharge these powers and duties as Acting President until I transmit to you a written declaration that I am able to resume the discharge of those powers and duties.

Sincerely,

Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America." 

As I read and meditate on the soothing contents of this letter, my heart bleeds for Nigeria, my country because I was also reflecting on how difficult it has always been for Nigerian leaders (and followers) to do the needful even in critical and glaring cases of incapacitation. I remember, for instance, how difficult it was for power to be transferred to the then Vice President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan when Late President Umaru Yar'Adua became very sick I'll and eventually died. In fact, there are clear indications that most Nigerian leaders would rather prefer to die in power than to die honouring the constitution they sow to protect which should not be the case.

But, by the way, what is the secret of America's breakthrough in the constitution and constitutionalism? Coyle (1957) provides a hint as follows: 'The (American) Federal Government created by the constitution was a synthetic sovereign state and it was made, not born; the living flesh that now covers its bones has been added by men who have made it to work - That is, by Americans practice the art of politics and sometimes of statesmanship.' In other words, pragmatic - cum -patriotic involvement and engagement of the citizenry is the magic behind America's towering profile in constitutionalism!

The constitution is the ground norm of a society or country. In the profound words of Madison (1957), one of the most respected 'Founding Fathers' and signatories to America's historic Constitution which heralded the country's independence on July 4, 1776, "The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first, to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern and most virtue to pursue the common good of the society and; in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous while they continue to hold their public trust." A very noble objective here but, oftentimes, hard to be realised especially in developing countries like Nigeria that seems to be suffocating from many developmental contradictions.

Muhammad, Nazariah and Isa (2019) observed generally that, "The process of evolution/attainment and development of nation/statehood is not achieved overnight mistakes are made, lessons are learned; considerations, concession, compromises, sacrifices, loses, and gains are made; symbiotic, parasitic or commensalism relations and co-habitation occur and do change with time and circumstances; conflicts of different dimensions occur and never-ending, while controversies trail some other issues, even wars are sometimes fought and reconciliations made in the long or short run." The scholars further observed that "This is typical to the Nigerian state and her evolution and development process." What this implies is that Nigeria's development trajectory is fractured or dislocated by myriad problems and, therefore, in need of structural face-lift and constitutional coherence through altruistic motivations and patriotic pragmatism. But what is Patriotism, by the way?

Patriotism is the emotional attachment and love for one's country. It is an intrinsic and instinctive drive toward the achievement of pubic or national interest; instead of parochial or personal interest that is often rooted in greed fed by corruption. Patriotism is the oil that lubricates the wheel of nationalism, which can be described, succinctly, as the emotional desire for self-determination from all forms of serfdom or slavery. It is the anchor of hope for national liberation and transformation which is in all things most desirable in every given circumstance.

National transformation can be seen as a holistic and spontaneous change in the structural configuration of a country. It has to do with the sustained breakthrough in all facets of a country's life, be it economic, social, political, security and diplomatic relations. This breakthrough, for all intents and purposes, has to be seen to be practically reflected in the overall welfare and security of the lives and properties of the citizenry. This is exactly the level of development every nation, and Nigeria in particular craves for obvious reasons.

To be frank, the intense clamour for constitutional revolution or restructuring in Nigeria, especially, in the current democratic dispensation that began in 1999, is a clear pointer that most Nigerians are disenchanted with the slow pace of development in the country, given its abundant blessings in both human and material resources.

Despite Nigeria's huge potentials for development, most of the country's development indices: Human Development Index (HDI) which covers knowledge, purchasing power and Life Expectancy; Macroeconomic Indicators like unemployment and poverty, economic growth, inflation, interest rate, etc.; Terrorism Index and Corruption Index if not all, are showing bad signals. For instance, for  Nigeria's unemployment rate was as high as 33.3 percent throughout the last quarter of 2020 (Olurounbi, 2021). Apart from being rated '

the poverty capital of the world' from 2019 and still maintains status with over 86 million out of the over 209 million of it people living in abject poverty; it is ranked, 146th position out of 180 countries, as one of the most corrupt countries in the world too and also the Third most terrorised countries after Afghanistan and Iraq (World Data Lab, 2021,Transparency [TI] International, 2021 and Institute of Economic and Peace [IEP], 2021 respectively). Hence, the need to make adjustments as passionately canvassed by many but nearly frustrated apostles of restructuring in the country. 

The main thesis of this reflective expository essay is that the hope of Nigeria's breakthrough lies in the capacity to make the country's restructuring agenda human-driven. This is because the human factor is the single most important resource that could make or mare the ambition to develop. It takes human beings (citizens) to mobilise other resources, makes good laws and ensure they are followed to the latter. With pragmatic and patriotic citizens who are garnished or baked with sound emotional, social, intellectual and moral capital, changing the relevant aspects of the Nigerian constitution as the first step toward restructuring and living by the laws (constitutionalism) after they have been changed, will be a work over-exercise. In other words, with constitutionalism sustained by patriotism, Nigeria's dream of achieving greatness is guaranteed, all things being equal.

We cannot afford to live under the illusion that all is well in Nigeria; there are challenges, really, "But we must set new aims And go on growing that one day we may be The respected equals of all other nations" as Hendrik Lund (2012) will put it. There is hope for Nigeria: You and I can make the country work and for the good of all of us!

(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, November 26, 2023; SMS: 08116181263; Email: loisayuba420@gmail.com)

References

Coyle, C. D. (1957). The United States political system and how it works. New York: Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government London.

2. Olorounbi, R. (2021). Nigeria's unemployment rate rises to 33%, second-highest on global list. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-15/nigeria-unemployment-rate-rises-to-second-highest-on-global-list. Retrieved November 26, 2021.

3. IEP (2021). Global terrorism index 2020:  Measuring impact of terrorism. https://www.reliefweb.int/report/world/global-terrorism-index-2020-measuring-impact-terrrorism. Retrieved November 26, 2021.

4. World Data Lab (2021). World poverty clock. https://www.worldpoverty.io/headlines. Retrieved November 26, 2021.

KANAM TO SWEAR IN SECRETARY AND SUPERVISORY COUNCILORS

The Executive Chairman, Kanam Local Government Council, Hon.(DR) Dayyabu Yusuf Garga on behalf

of Management, Legislative Council and the good people of Kanam LGA invite the general public to the official swearing-in of the Local Government Council Secretary and Supervisory Councillors of the LGA.

The ceremony comes up on Tuesday 23rd November 2021 by 2pm prompt. The venue is Local Government Secretariat, Dengi, Kanam LGA.

By this notice, the Leader and Members of the Legislative Council, Stakeholders, Elected and appointed political office holders from Kanam LGA, religious and traditional rulers, as well as the general public, are invited and to be seated by 1:30pm, please.

Announcer.

Hon. Mohammed Yusuf Kanam.

Special Adviser 

Media and Protocol To the Executive Chairman,Kanam LGC.

HON. KOMSOL REDEFINING THE ART F REPRESENTATION WITH SPORT EMPOWERMENT

Kicked-Off Unity Football Tournament - Donated Motorcycles

THE famous agrarian town of Kurgwi was sparkling agog when thousands of energetic young men and women converged at the L.G.E.A Primary School Kurgwi to partake as well as to witness the official Kicked-Off of HON. KOMSOL ALHONSUS LONGGAP Unity Football Tournament.

Performing the official kick-off of the tournament Hon. Komsol said he is highly elated to see young men and women across forty (40) Grassroots teams from Mikang, Quaan-pan, and Shendam constituency coming together on this auspicious soccer tournament tagged: ‘KOMSOL UNITY CUP 2021'.

He said the Aim of this tournament is not far-fetched as the name infers ‘Komsol Unity Cup' emanating from my conscious desire to reunite and strengthen the bonds between our communities that have existed and shared socio-ethnic cultures for almost a century now, that despite our existing challenges and grievances we will still have reasons to socialize and smile at each other.

He noted that the tournament is meant to remobilize the teaming hard-working, energetic youths within his constituency, to showcase their exceptional talents and apply their energy positively especially in these perilous times where we observe untamed insecurity in different parts of the country as a result of youth restiveness.

He further said Football has proven unequivocally to achieve unity effortlessly even amongst a multi-ethnic nation like ours, where people young and old sheath their differences, laugh and shake hands in support of either Plateau United, Arsenal, Chelsea, or our National team without asking whether it's Pan, Goemai, Youm, Piapung, Kanoem or Tehl, a Muslim or Christian who is playing.

Komsol explained that will emerge first or overall winner will be given a vehicle- Sharon model while the prizes for the second winners A Tri-Cycle Popularly known as Keke Napep and the third Position will go home with a Boxer Motor-Cycle.

The epoch-making event was also blessed with presences of Royal Highnesses, among whom were the Long Goemai of Gamai Land, HRH Miskoom Martin Shaldas III, The Longjan HRH Miskoom Safiyanu Allahnanan, the Long Tehl, HRH Donah Dajen, The Long Kwo, HRH Col. Fidelis Attahiru, and The Long Doemak, HRH Cosmos Dajan.

Politicians and government officials were also not left out, the trio of Local Government Chairmen of Mikang, Shendam, Qua'anpan Local Governments, with that of Shendam L.G.A, Miskoom Alex Naantuam in attendance; while Qua'anpan and Mikang Local Governments were graciously represented by their deputies. The Hon. Member thanked his constituents for their unwavering support and unity, he said they have been giving him all the time, reassuring them of his unending commitment to leave no stone unturned, to justify the confidence reposed on him by his constituents to represent them at the House of Representatives, Abuja.

The Hon. Member also donated two brand new boxer motorcycles to the President, Kurgwi Community Development Association KCDA. Alh. Ibrahim Turaki and the Leader of Islamic Tijjaniya Group of Kurgwi, Sheikh Mallam Hassan Aliyu.

Students of Brilliant Minds Academy Kurgwi, Qua'anpan Local Government, thrilled the spectators with their dance performance as Hon. Komsol promised to visit the school to leave a legacy in the school while donating a brand new Hp Laptop to the Teacher who organized the performance.

Komsol said this is just one amongst another plethora of youth-friendly events that are outlined for our good constituents but the success of one will open up another. I herein Kick-off this game to the glory of God and the Development of Humanity.